Large capacity mining draglines subject a dragline bucket to enormous forces and loads. Ropes (also referred to as “cables”) are employed in draglines to control the various movements of the bucket, and accordingly experience extreme and rapid wear, especially at the sheaves in components of the dragline. For example, hoist ropes may need to be replaced every 3-6 months, drag ropes every 1-3 months and dump ropes every 1-2 weeks. Rope replacement is time consuming, with “downtime” of the dragline representing a significant cost in mining operations.
WO 2011/103640 to the present applicant discloses a method for attaching a ferrule to the end of a wire rope to finish that end and to facilitate its attachment to components (e.g. via a socket) in the dragline hoist and/or rigging assembly. The method of WO 2011/103640 can be employed to attach an example ferrule as disclosed herein to a wire rope.
Minimizing the rope changeover time can contribute to downtime reduction and improved operating cost and efficiency of a dragline. Sockets are accordingly employed to assist with rope connection to and disconnection from various components of a dragline rigging and hoist assembly. In this regard, a ferrule on the end of a wire rope can locate and be retained in such a socket.
Components of the forces and loads in draglines can be transferred to the wire ropes which may in turn cause the ferrule on a given rope to twist and/or be shunted within an existing socket. However, with existing sockets, the resultant movement may not be prevented and/or the torque imparted to the ferrule may not be transferred to and absorbed or accommodated by the socket. This can quickly result in damage to or failure of the wire rope, ferrule and/or socket.
The above references to the background and prior art do not constitute an admission that such art forms a part of the common and/or general knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art. The above references are also not intended to limit the application of the ferrule and socket disclosed herein.